The Big Apple Blues

Predictably, the evil Yankees got to Mike Wood the third time through their line up. Wood is a good major league relief pitcher, but he's not a starter. He just doesn't have good enough stuff. Here's what he had to say about his performance in the Royals 5-1 loss last night: "I tried to stay the same. I don't know what happened. My ball might have flattened out late. I felt great. I didn't change a thing. I just left the ball up late."

I really don't consider the fifth inning to be "late," but he is right in one regard. His ball flattened out the third time through the Yankees line up and it cost the Royals the game. That, and a Randy Johnson who looked like the Big Unit of old, who reportedly was throwing in the 96-97 mph range rather than the 91 mph that Sweeney said he threw the last time the Royals saw him.

Tonight might not be any better for the guys in blue. Short on pitching help, they've recalled J.P. Howell as planned and he is going to start against Jaret Wright, who hasn't exactly been dominant this year, but how dominant will he have to be to win this game?

Unfortunately the Royals pitching woes continue to get worse. Runelvys Hernandez has been placed on the 15-day DL with a low back strain and doctors are also looking at MRI results of an exam done on his right shoulder. His velocity was down in his last start and it sounds like the Royals expect to hear bad news about Hernandez's shoulder. If that does happen, it sounds like he'll be shut down for the season.